Pretending
by Solemn Ember
Summary: OC Sophie Leander watches the house burn during the night, her mind and soul filled with sadness as her special person no longer walks the earth. l May not make much sense so sorry about that. l


_A/N: It won't make much sense, but I had wrote this because... well I had no idea why I did, I just did. _

_Pretty much just some rambling going on. I should have italicized the "memory" but thought there wasn't much of a memory to italicize in the first place. At the end, I get that Alucard may seem out of character a bit, but I blame myself for that because I thought of this character and some story behind the both of them before writing this._

_Hope you enjoy it. And once again, sorry if it doesn't make much sense._

* * *

Pretending

Flames licked the sky, lighting the darkened night with an orange hue. The flames were relentless, angry even, and burned the wood that held the small house together. It was funny, if one thought about it in that manner, that a house was supposed to be a place one felt safe. A house is a fortress that contained a family, be it a family of one or a dozen. Yet, as the platinum silver-blonde French maid watched the house burn and creak, she couldn't help but bitterly smile on the inside.

Irony was a cruel mistress.

Sophie Leander stood only a few meters from the burning inferno that engulfed the house, her cobalt eyes appearing distant and filled with bitter despair. She was the one who set the house ablaze, and though she did not regret it, she felt the guilt closing around her. She set one of her most precious person's home on fire, because it was the only way to hide the evidence of a vampire attack.

Her fists clenched at the memory, hatred filling her heart and clouding her mind. The wretched being was dead, but not before killing her precious person's family along with her. The child, Samantha, had her head cut; only holding on to her neck with a thin membrane of skin. When she lifted the child up, her head fell with a thud, rolling onto its side as her expression held her stark terror. In a state of complete shock, Sophie couldn't begin to process what happened. She wished, prayed, hoped to a god she had long abandoned that none of it was real.

But she heard the foul creature cackle in delight, its voice penetrating the haze that kept her bound to the floor, cradling the child close to her body as her eyes remained transfixed on the decapitated head. Rage, hatred, malice, sorrow, despair filled the woman's body and outwardly show them by using her powers. Doors had slammed shut repeatedly, drawers closing and opening, windows shattering, lights flickering on and off before exploding from their sockets.

The house creaked and moaned under the invisible pressure building inside, startling the vampire in her presence. He cursed at her, shouting obscenities before charging at her full vampire speed. The damned fool was walking, in this case running, into his own demise.

Sophie spun sharply, eyes blazing with rage, as she slammed a clenched fist right into the vampire's face, sending him reeling to the blood stained furniture. She summoned her hidden blades tucked in her sleeves and threw them with dangerous precision into the vampire's flesh. The creature howled in agony, its right eye pierced from the blade while the other embedded itself into his right clavicle. She wasn't through with him though, far from it to be honest. She slammed her heeled boot onto the handle of the blade, digging it deeper as she used it to hoist herself up and slam her other boot right into the other deeper into its eyes.

The creature screamed in pain, its body thrashing to get the woman off of it. Sophie would have none of that and used her other blades hidden on her body to pin into his body to the furniture and the floor. It begged for mercy, asking her to forgive it and let it go. She snarled at it, her fist connecting to its jaw and breaking it off. A wave of sadistic satisfaction washed over the French maid, her lips curling into a dark smile.

Her heel pressed on the creatures knee; she wondered how much force did she have to put for the knee cap to break and pressed on it harder each time it made a grotesque sound. The bone gave way and her heel dug into its flesh and bone. It screamed in agony, the lone eye tearing up and quivering from the pain. She shook her head, knowing what it wanted but knowing it was never going to get it.

For hours she tormented the creature, blood drenching her outfit, pieces of cut up flesh strewn around the floor and onto the walls as she had fun tearing off its skin bit by bit. The final act she pulled was wrapping her hands around its neck and squeezing. She squeezed the vampire's neck tightly, feeling it writhe beneath her body as she saw its lone eye look at her with such terror and malice. She smiled, her hands squeezing the life out of it before its head snapped off.

Finally, she allowed the wretched thing to die.

It was silent then. The house, the wind, the torment silenced. She was alone in the house now, with nothing but dead bodies, blood splattered over the walls, floors, and ceiling. She looked outside the broken window, the moon high in the air with no stars to accompany its lonesome journey. She laughed, tears streaming down her porcelain blood stained cheeks. She was left with a sorrow and despair that she hadn't felt in such a long time.

Samantha, her dear Samantha, was dead. No longer would she greet her with a smile, no longer would she laugh in merriment, no longer would she live each day with such high hopes. A sob broke through her lips, Sophie's hands reaching up to cover her face as she sobbed from the pain, from the sorrow, from the despair. She sobbed at her own weakness, her incompetence to rescue the child and her family. She sobbed because it was so quiet, so silent, that she needed to hear something.

Unbeknownst to her, her powers allowed a soft, almost gentle music to float through the house. A piano and a violin playing in such sweet harmony pierced the silence like a knife, embracing the tragedy that happened there that night. Sophie looked up, tears rolling down her cheeks as she recognized the sound. She used to play it for Samantha, her powers allowing her to play the piano while she herself played the violin. She would play it at the dead of night, in the child's room when the little girl would have a nightmare. She would smile tenderly as she lay there in bed, her auburn hair fanning over her pillow and her pale hands resting on her stomach as she listened to the older woman play.

She allowed the music to play, one last time, as a tribute to her dear precious one. She let the music soothe the child's spirit along with her family's spirits. It was funny, still, that she felt nothing but sorrow to a song that brought peace to another. She lifted herself from the ground, gathering the body pieces and setting them ablaze. It was cruel, unorthodox, but as a member of the Hellsing organization, it was her sworn duty to hide the evidence of vampires and such. It pained her a great deal, but it had to be done.

So here she stood, the house catching on fire and lighting the sky in an orange haze. Smoke rose to join the darkness of the sky, the moon reflecting the loneliness she felt deep inside.

"_Sophie_." The maid felt a pressure in her mind, the smooth velvety voice of Master Alucard echoing in her mind.

"_Master Alucard, how may I help you?_" She responded quietly in her mind, her gaze never leaving the fire.

"_Master Integra wishes to know of your whereabouts_." The woman would've sighed, but thought against it. She was allowed to go to the town for personal reasons but she had promised to return shortly. That had been eight hours ago.

"_I'm sorry Master Alucard; you can inform Sir Integra that I will be returning to the manor shortly. Allow me a few more minutes to remain where I am_." Her voice softened, sorrow encompassing the woman once again. She cried silently, cursing herself for showing weakness in the presence of the No-Life King Dracula.

He didn't respond, not that she expected him to. She knew that he hated weakness, and no doubt felt annoyed having to deal with someone who couldn't control her emotions despite being the first time she actually allowed herself to shed tears in the two centuries she had been alive in this body.

Sophie felt herself being pulled back, her body being surrounded in a warm embrace as a tall body pressed against her back. She tilted her head, looking up at the chiseled jaw of Master Alucard. Surprise and awe flashed in her eyes as the vampire king held her body to his. She knew she couldn't feel happy, it wasn't in her nature to feel happy about this, but just this once, she allowed herself to pretend that she was happy in the embrace of someone she loved. Just this once, she pretended that both of them were two lovers underneath the light of the moon, the smell of blood thick in the air and warmth surrounding them.

Even as she turned her body, her arms wrapping around his neck and pulling him down to a chaste kiss, she pretended that she was in love. She pretended the man she was kissing was also in love with her too as he returned the kiss. She pretended that his hunger to ravage her mouth when he tasted blood was because he wanted her in the carnal way she wanted him.

She just pretended for this night, that nothing was wrong and that everything was completely right.


End file.
